What Does Too Much Cheese Do to the Human Body?

Sara Ipatenco
|
Reviewed By:
Jill Corleone
|
on December 18, 2018

About the Reviewer:

Jill Corleone

Jill Corleone is a registered dietitian with more than 20 years of experience. She graduated with honors from New York University and completed her clinical internship at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

About the Author:

Sara Ipatenco

Sara Ipatenco has taught writing, health and nutrition. She started writing in 2007 and has been published in Teaching Tolerance magazine. Ipatenco holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in education, both from the University of Denver.

The amount of cheese Americans eat each year has more than tripled since the 1970s — from an average of 11 pounds to a whopping 35 pounds a year as of January 2017, according to Harvard Health Publishing. A good source of protein, calcium and phosphorus, cheese may certainly be considered a nutritious food. This doesn't give you license to eat as much cheese as you want, though, because it also contains saturated fat and sodium. In fact, too much cheese in your diet can do you more harm than good.

With cheese, moderation is the name of the game.
(Image: istetiana/Moment/GettyImages)

Tip

Excess cheese in your diet can increase your intake of saturated fat and sodium, which can take a toll on your health.

Scary Saturated Fat

One of the primary drawbacks of cheese is that it contains saturated fat. A diet that's too high in saturated fat can cause your cholesterol levels to become elevated. High cholesterol raises your risk of life-threatening health problems such as heart attack and stroke. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests keeping your saturated fat intake to 10 percent or less of your total caloric intake to help prevent heart disease.

Ten percent is about 200 calories or 22 grams per day if you follow a 2,000-calorie diet. For perspective, an ounce of cheddar cheese contains about 6 grams of saturated fat, whereas the same amount of mozzarella has 3.9 grams. Parmesan cheese contains almost 1 gram of saturated fat per tablespoon.

Dietary Cholesterol Is Also Problematic

Limiting your intake of dietary cholesterol can help you keep your levels within the normal range. Eating large amounts of cholesterol can lead to cholesterol buildup in your arteries, which raises your risk of stroke and heart disease.

According to the University of Michigan Health Service, you should consume no more than 200 milligrams of dietary cholesterol per day. If you already have high cholesterol, speak with your health care provider to determine how much dietary cholesterol is safe for you to eat.

As examples of cholesterol content in cheese, an ounce of cheddar cheese contains about 28 milligrams of cholesterol, an ounce of mozzarella has 22 milligrams and 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese contains 4 milligrams, according to the USDA Food Composition Databases.

Don't Forget the Sodium

Cheese also contains a large amount of sodium, and too much of the salty stuff isn't good for your heart. A diet high in sodium can cause your blood pressure to increase, and when that happens, it leaves you susceptible to heart attack and stroke, according to the American Heart Association. Too much sodium may also raise your risk of kidney disease and osteoporosis.

Note that an ounce of cheddar cheese has 183 milligrams of sodium, which is about 12 percent of the 1,500 milligrams you should limit yourself to each day; a 1-ounce serving of mozzarella contains 138 milligrams of sodium, and a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese has 85 milligrams.

Fitting Cheese Into a Healthy Diet

Eating an ounce of cheese is one way to increase your intake of protein and calcium, but it's best to limit how much you eat to no more than a few ounces a week. If you simply can't reduce your intake of cheese, look for reduced-fat versions, which are lower in saturated fat. But keep in mind that reduced-fat cheeses still contain about the same amount of sodium that full-fat cheeses do. Cutting down on processed foods, eating your pizza or pasta with half the cheese, or having your burger or sandwich without cheese are additional ways to cut your cheese intake.